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Evaluation:

This body of work slowly developed into something I can be very proud of. The intention of this project was to visually explore the bedrooms of people who struggle with insomnia or sleep deprivation. The plan was to use eight people to create a strong body of work which explored the different characteristics of the participants whilst also looking at their sleeping pattern and the lights in their room. Unfortunately, one of these participants dropped out of the shoot due to them not being available when I needed them. Aside from this, the project has run pretty smoothly since developing my ideas properly. I tried to keep the focus of my work on capturing the lights and shadows that are cast around people’s rooms at night. I used abstract imagery to also add a sense of surrealism to my work due to the links between insomnia and surrealism. The condition normally leaves whoever is suffering with it in a way where they can sometimes not distinguish the difference between being awake and asleep. This is where the sense of surrealism adds to the context of my work. The was in which I created this abstract aesthetic was by using either cups full of water or a prism to distort part of the frame. 

Throughout this body of work, I have been building up to the design and production of my final pieces. For my final pieces I am producing five prints and one photo book. The photo book was my main point of focus because as a piece it shows the full range of images I captured for this project whilst also giving more context to the viewer. The prints I have selected involves the seven portraits combined into one long image alongside four of my best pictures which all come from different locations. This set of five photos display my most abstract image to the most minimalistic one, whilst still working well as a consistent and strong set of images. 

If there were a few things I could improve from this work it would be ensuring my images stayed more focused. For two of my shoots I began to focus more on the objects of the room I was shooting rather than the shadow and light. I would also like to have produced a larger body of work that looked at a larger demographic of people who struggled with insomnia. However, due to health reasons and limitations I was unable to do this.

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This is the break down for the equipment and materials I have used throughout the duration of this project. In the table you can see what the real cost of all this equipment would have been, alongside how much it would have cost to hire and finally what it actually cost me. The only thing I cannot budget for yet is my final prints for my exhibition.

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Audience.

It is always important when producing a body of work to try and decide on the demographic that your work will be aimed at. In the case of my own work I believe that my project could be appealing to a few different demographics. The first is the age group of around 18 to 25. All the participants in my project were aged 20-22, which means that a youth demographic would be more applicable to this project. Every person I used for the project is a university student who probably developed bad sleeping habits or a sleep condition due to the lifestyle that students live. Therefore with my work using youth participants it would be more relatable to a similar age group. Within youth culture I think my work would appeal more towards and creative demographic, for example someone who spends time to look a creative mediums or specialises in one. Creative youth would appreciate the style of work whilst also possibly being able to relate to it.

The next demographic my work could appeal to is anyone who does or has struggled with insomnia and/or sleep deprivation in their life. They would probably like that there is a form of content that visually shows a problem they could be dealing with, in a medium for an audience to see. This body of work could be seen (and I’d be happy for it to be seen like this) as a way of raising awareness for these sleep conditions to people who maybe are unaware of them. So this demographic is another one my work could appeal to. The last demographic I could think of that would be interested by this work is someone who is interested in the psychology of sleep. The work I’ve produced is a way of looking at peoples real sleeping habits and how things in their own bedroom play on there mind at night.   

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In an earlier post when researching photo-books I mentioned that I had designed and printed a similar style project before in a past brief. My book was originally heavily influenced by George Muncey’s Negative Feedback zine which can be seen in the top two images. The bottom two are my book which was titled ‘A to B and the bit in the middle’. Thought the context of my current work is far from the images in these books, the style of the book in terms of colour and composition are very similar. This can be seen when comparing these images to my final piece.  

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Using Blurb’s ‘Book Wright’ software I have been able to design and order the book I wanted to produce as my final piece. This post is a break down of how each page of the book was designed and why it is structured how it is. The first image is a break down of the technical and financial specifications of the book. I chose to use 12x12″ pages in the end to ensure the pictures weren’t printed larger enough to be seen properly. I used Premium Matte 100# paper out of personal preference and in the knowledge this would be of a high enough quality for my photos. I then chose a hard cover with a dust jacket over the top. 

The designs for the front and back covers can be seen in the next two images. One of these is the dust jacket version which has the two extra tabs on each side. I used the first one of these tabs to list all the equipment that I used throughout this project. This involved the cameras and lenses that I used, as well as the software I edited on. The tab for the back cover I used as a way of raising awareness of how serious sleep issues can be in relation to mental and physical health. To do this I suggested contacting a GP or calling a charity named ‘Mind’ which specialises in mental health and has an emergency hotline if someone needs help. The text for these tabs used black colouring with a size 18 Vollkorn font. The text was then aligned to the centre point of the tab and text box it was inside. The front and back covers ended up staying very similar to my original designs with the pink background, white text over the image and black for the back cover. In addition to the back cover I added a small lamp graphic to symbolise all the lamps used to light the bedrooms in my photos. All text on front and back covers were aligned to the centre as well apart from my name which was composed on the right hand side. Throughout the rest of the book I continued to use the Vollkorn font with black text that varies from around a font size of 18 and 36.

The next screenshot shows the first page which is a rough break down of what this project is about. This page used a centre text box with the text being aligned to the left to be composed with the spine of the book. Again I included the lamp graphic in the top right hand corner of the page to keep the theme present. When aligning stuff on the pages for this book the software assists with creating margins and snapping your images to the centre point of the vertical or horizontal centre of the page. This allowed for me to ensure each image and piece of text was perfectly aligned and each page looked the same. 

The next two screenshots show the most commonly used page designs in the book. The first being the two page spread of the portrait and interviews that I did. The left hand side page shows the portrait composed central withe the page number and pink lines below. Each page has a page # at the bottom of the page with two pink lines either side. The lines have been used to keep the colour theme throughout the book to just white, pink and black. The right hand side page then sees a pink background composed in the centre with a white border around the edge. This white border is hard to see in these screenshots due to print margins on the software being a similar tone of pink. In this pink box is all the information about the model that is relevant to this exploration of sleep deprivation. This includes the models name, age the questions I asked them and their answers. The text is aligned to the left again to be even with the spine. The next screenshot is the one that uses two images over the two page spread. The pictures are all sized to 28.7x28.7cm and centred on each page so that each page uses the same designs and ratios/sizes.

The last screenshot is of the books final page. This is a small thanks to everyone who helped me in this body of work and let me use their bedroom. At the bottom of page I included a line of the seven portraits taken for this work. This was a small reminder for the reader to see the people I am thanking, it is also one of the pictures I plan on printing for our final exhibition. The title is then centred within the text box to resemble a more similar composition to the front cover of the book. The rest of the text is the aligned left due to the spine.

All round I am very happy with this book I have managed to design here. Since the beginning of this project my plan was to produce a final piece that resembled this book. It fully show the quality of work I have produced whilst also creating an exciting visual project that explores insomnia and sleep deprivation through the use of light and shadows in the participants bedrooms.  

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The work of Jaromir Funke was something that caught my eye whilst researching similar work to mine during this project. Funke was a Czech photographer who was born in 1896 and died in 1945. This means he was producing work at the same time as László Moholy-Nagy. Like Moholy’s work, Funke’s uses film techniques to create images which focus on both light and shadow. Funke’s image above are some example of how is work looked at how a source of light creates shadows around rooms and objects. His work feels very abstract with the viewer not being able to decode what is in the picture. The images feels like a mix of shapes and lines that are created through different tones of black and white that emphasise the light and shadow.  

Funke founded a group named ‘The Czech Society of Photography’ in 1924. The aim of this group was to produce images that were deemed to have a new social function. By combining traditional Czech aesthetics with surrealism and social commentary the group were able to produce work that they hoped would have a larger effect on society. Funke was also said to be focusing on modernism in his work, which would elaborate further on the societies larger intentions. By using abstract photography Funke was able to create work deemed to be more modern due to its unusual subject matter. The abstract nature of Funkes work with the use of shadow and light is was made me see similarities to my work. 

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These are some rough sketches I drew to display what I would like my book to look like. The top image shows the front and back cover. The background of the spread will use a pink colour, with the front page having an image over the top and the back cover having black text over the top of that. Then the next designs are for the portrait and interview spread. This involves the image on the left hand side page and the black text in a pink box on the following page. Underneath on every page will be a page number with two pink lines next to it. This is to keep the running theme of pink present throughout the book, without the colour taking away from the work too much. The next designs are for the standard pages which we present the photos shot for this project. Over the two pages there will be two images that are both composed in the centre of the page.

I am unsure on the sizing of anything yet because I am yet to decide what size I am printing the book. For square format books blurb offer a 7x7″ and 12x12″ option. I will probably use the 12″ option because the 7″ would be too small to properly present my work. In terms of the rest of the books design, I plan on; having the production with a hardback cover, a possible dust jacket, full colour and matte pages. I would prefer matte prints for my images because I am not keen on the shine you get from gloss paper. Now this initial designs have been complete I can begin making my book. Some changes may be made to these early designs.

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Update.

I am now at a point in my work where I have shot all the photos I need to produce the quality of final piece I set out to make at the beginning of this project. I have a strong set of portraits of each participant, alongside 6 or more strong images of their bedrooms. I have also completed all seven surveys to contextualise the models sleep problems in relation to my work. I have research some print productions to give me a further knowledge of a photo books production to the pint I am ready to start creating my own. My work will now consist of designing, creating and printing the book i wish to use for my final piece. I plan on using Blurb to do the production and printing of my work.  

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As I have mentioned before the plan for my final piece is to produce a book which contains the sets of images I have produced for this body of work. I have produced one book before for a brief we received last year, however I thought some further research into published photo-books may help me to learn some more about the production and design of a project like this. For this research I used 6 of my own photo books which can be seen in the images above.

The first image is from ‘The Photo Book’ by Ian Jeffrey and Tom Wilson, which the second volume of this book series. Each books looks at the work of over hundreds of photographers, so I often use it to find peoples work that is similar to mine for research. However, this time I was using it for the books design. Each double page spread uses two images with a small portion of text above it. This is a simple layout which primarily brings focus to the photographers work. This is something I want to implement into my own book. I want my images to use most of the space on the page to give the viewer the best possible experience of my work. I also like the use of square pages and hard back cover for this book. The square page ratio would work well for my pictures due to them also being square. The hard cover is also a nice touch as it makes the book feel somewhat more professional and like it is designed to last.

The next two images are from ‘Humans of New York’ by Brandon Stanton, a body of work which documents the people that live in New York City. The two images I took of the book are one of the books dust cover and one of a double page spread that uses both text and an image. Like The Photo Book, this book uses a dust cover over the hardback cover. This small sheet of plastic or paper over the front of the book also helps add to the professional feel of the book. It also allows for a small piece of information to be added to the inside and back page of the book. The second picture of this book uses the white space of the page in a very effective way. Nearly half the page is consumed by white space, but the spread doesn’t feel empty. The composition of the text and image inside the white areas are done effectively. I plan on my book being focused around using just white colouring primarily to keep the visual production of the book simple, and the use of white behind my images should bring all the focus to them. 

The following images are from a book named ‘Street Photography Now’ by Sophie Howarth and Stephen McLaren. This book is focused on street photography around the world, with work from 46 photographs being published in the book. Like the Humans of New York book, I chose this production for its use of white space. The text and images on the page feel like they belong surrounded by all the empty white space. By ensuring the images take point on the page, and everything is composed central to the column it is in, the spread over two pages stays balanced.

 The last image shows the three front covers from a book/zine series by George Muncey who uses the name ‘Negative Feedback’ for his productions. This series looks at film work from all around the world whether it be studio, street, documentary or any other genre of photography. I looked at these zines when producing my previous book. I took influence mostly from; the use of pink colouring with white space and  a few composition notes for placements of images. This time I may also use the colour pink again, but in a much smaller volume. I will probably produce a very similar front cover as well with my image using most of the pages space, with a few minimal words for book title and my name.

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These four shots are for some reshoots I did in Rob and Isy’s room. The top three are from Isy’s and the bottom image from Rob’s. The reason for revisiting these locations was for my final piece. I plan on now using 6 pictures per a bedroom, and whilst conducting the shoots in these two rooms my focus was more on objects in the room rather than light or shadow. So I needed to go back into these rooms in order to gain stronger images that will work better and more fluently as a part of my final piece(s). These new pictures who much better in my opinion as a true representation of what I wanted my work to look like. The images from Isy’s room saw me use the prism again to distort part of the frame and lights. This creates more abstract imagery. The picture from Rob’s room took a more minimalistic approach with the main focus of the piece being from the texture on the wall. The picture doesn’t have a lot going on visually, but the gradient in tone across the frame with the small pockets of detail on the wall still creates a pleasing aesthetic.   

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Whilst shooting the portraits for this body of work I was unable to book a studio place. This at first came as a major set back due to me being worried that I would not be able to get the quality of portrait I had intended on capturing. However, I set up a makeshift studio in my living room which I wasn’t sure that would work. I used a Canon 5D Mark III with a 24-105mm lens, two lamps and a black bed sheet as a backdrop. The layout of this shoot can be seen in the picture above. After beginning to shoot I realised the set-up worked a lot better than what I had anticipated. Then after post production the portraits I ended up with are easily of the same quality I was aiming to achieve in the studio. With this knowledge I could now shoot portraits from home with similar to studio quality results.      

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László Moholy-Nagy was a male photographer born in 1895 and died in 1946. Moholy is deemed to still be a very influential man in within design, film making, painting, photography and sculpting. Moholy taught in post-war art education in the USA. His methods of work were very experimental due to his theories around modern mediums. He believed that society should be using the advancements in technology at the time to create better or different styles of work. One of these advancements was the introduction of photography. The first camera  was made at the start of the 1800′s, but by the end of the century and the start of the next, photography was more available to people who could afford the equipment. Moholy’s photographic style was based around a focus on light and shadow with the use of mostly minimalistic aesthetics. The top two images see the use of street photography, but the compositions of the pictures give very minimal detail due to the frame being composed of mostly linear lines. His pictures focus on the architecture of the city around him, but the crops on each image is pretty tight to ensure the frame doesn’t become crowded with more detail or subject matter. The use of black and white in the images then brings around the focus on the light and shadow. The lack of colour in the frame allows for the black and white tones to display the light and dark around the location even better. The change from black, to grey, to white displays how the natural light reacts to the objects in the area the photo was taken.

The bottom image is by far one of Moholy’s more experimental pieces. The image is titled ‘A Study in Balance’ and appears to show a small geometric sculpture that has been photographed on black and white film. This image uses the same principles in relation to shadow and minimalism, however the subject matter is completely different. This image focuses more on still life rather than architecture. My images focus more on this area of still, with the inclusion of light, shadow and minimalism. On the surface my work and Moholy’s work appears to be very different, but this could be put down the the choices in medium (Moholy using film and myself using digital) and the year in which the images were taken. Our work mostly is similar in the sense of focus on bold areas of shadow and light with the use of strong contrast.   

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This is my final shoot for this project. This set of images was shot in Bianca’s room with my Canon 650D and 15-55mm lens. With this being my final full set of images for this project I feel like the style of imagery I have been producing has stayed fairly consistent whilst also showing development. This development has come through a larger focus on light and shadow, instead of objects in the room, a stronger sense of balanced composition and a more competent knowledge of shooting images in darker conditions.

Whilst shooting in this room I used three main light sources; the blue lamp, the white mirror light and the red crystal light. All three provided for very different lighting sources, but work for creating interesting imagery. The lamp was an interesting lighting source due to creating two different colours throughout the image. The top half sees the warmth from the lamps yellow glow, but the bottom has a much cooler feel with the blue tones. One lamp manages to split the frame in two with its contrasting lights. The circular mirror light was also interesting for creating light around the room. The pure white light from the mirror gave some strong lighting on the blind behind which resulted in some strong shadows also being formed. All round I am happy with the style of imagery I have developed for this exploration of insomnia and sleep deprivation.  

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This is the sixth set of images shot for my final project. These photos were shot in George’s room on my Canon 650D with a 15-55mm lens. Unfortunately I was unable to use a 5D for this and the next shoot due not being able to book them from media loans on such short notice. The slightly lower quality of these images can be noticed but due to the nature of some of the pictures being abstract this isn’t an issue in relation to the images context of insomnia. I used my glass prism in the last two images of this shoot which is what creates the distortion and breaks down the light into separate colours which can be seen around the lights composed in the shot.

This shoot greeted me with a few issues which I had to try an overcome. The first issue was the lack of a lamp in the room or should I say a working lamp. George’s lamp had broke prior to the shoot, so we had to improvise by using a lamp from another persons room in the house to light the room. However, the lamp was placed in the same place as the original one to keep the room authentic to what it should be at night. The second problem was surrounding the first image. The dj device seen in the shot could no longer light up unless it was for the first five seconds it was on. So to capture this shot I had to time the turning on of the device with the shutter of the camera. After overcoming these obstacles I was still able to capture the same feeling I had in the previous shoots. Each shot reflects the shadows and light that are cast around the room at night. At this moment in time I have completed all the shoots I need to for my final pieces as well as reshoots in both Rob and Isy’s rooms.    

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An idea for an image I would print for our final exhibition. I feel like this would be a good way of presenting the seven portraits I shot alongside a selection of the image shot in peoples bedrooms. This print would work well as a long print that covered the 3meters we have to present our work.

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These are the seven participants who have taken part in this body of work. Their names are as follows (from left to right): Isy, Rob Matthew, George, Harry, Bianca and myself, Jordan.

The portraits are being used as a part of this body of work for two main reasons: 1- as a visual way of demonstrating the physical side effects of sleep issues and, 2- a way of showing who owns the bedroom the image are shot in and creating a metaphor to these pictures as well.

1- The images taken in each bedroom act as a way of visually showing what lights and shadows in the room do or could keep the owner awake at night. The interview questions were to understand a bit of the persons behaviours and psychology in relation to sleep, but there is no representation of the persons physical appearance. By including portraits of the people who struggle with sleep issues I am able to show some of the negative side effects a lack of sleep can have on the human body. The aim of these images wasn’t to capture people looking at their roughest due to a lack fo sleep, but to have subtle hints of these side effects. These include things such as bags under peoples eyes and a fairly neutral expression which doesn’t show much sign of being happy or being particularly engaged. The black and white assists in this highlight of negative side effects due to the connotations b&w has to negative emotions in photography. I feel that some of these images express this concept of being able to see the side effects, however some don’t. This isn’t an issue though because the portraits still have the connotation of expressing tiredness. An important thing to note about one portrait is well is related to Robs. At the point of this portrait being taken he had not slept in around two nights due to his sleep issues. On seeing the portrait he made a comment along the lines of ‘I look so dead in the eyes’, therefore showing how the images can express this idea of being tired like I wanted them to.

2-  The second reason these portraits were taken was to contextualise and add more depth to the images of their bedrooms. The plan for these portraits in relation to my final piece is that they will be used on a double page spread alongside the answers the participants gave in their interview. With this portrait next to their answer the viewer of the piece will be able to gage on a visual level what this person is like with the addition of the picture of their bedroom. The black and white style of portraits was also used for another reason. This is to add a new depth to the images when they are seen alongside the coloured images of the models room. The b&w image contrasts the vibrant colours of some of their bedrooms. This has been done on purpose to express the vibrance of models bedrooms being partially responsible for the negative side effects on the person which is demonstrated by the black and white portrait. The contrast of the colour to b&w is there to advance my work further in relation to depth and expression of sleep issues. 

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Interview results.

The following is the questions asked for these interviews followed by the answers of the participants.

​Matthew Berry aged 21.

​What is the rough time you go to sleep and wake up every day

on average?

About 3am and then wake up at about 10/11am each day.

How many hours on average do you sleep a night?

Roughly 6 or 7 hours a night.

Would you say you struggle with insomnia or sleep deprivation?

If so how long for?

I have struggled with sleep over the past few years where sleep deprivation has become an issue.

​What in your bedroom keeps you awake at night?

All the electrical devices with any standby lights, phone, lights, computer and noise from main road outside.

Do you have any methods you use to try and assist your sleep at night?

Using a tapestry to darken room  by hanging it in front of curtains, and turning off anything with a source of light.

George Mills aged 20.

​What is the rough time you go to sleep and wake up every day?

I go to sleep about 2am most nights and then try to get up for 9 am.

How many hours on average do you sleep a night?

Around 6/7 hours a night.

Would you say you struggle with insomnia or sleep deprivation?

If so how long for?

Yes, for about the past 5 years.

What in your bedroom keeps you awake at night?

I have bad blinds that let in too much light, the lights from xbox, TV, and anything with a standby light also annoys me.

Do you have any methods you use to try and assist your sleep at night?

I normally try watching something to give me some background noise and I have found having a more of a routine e.g. going gym at 6am has helped me to start sleeping at an earlier time.

Harry Simmons aged 21.

​What is the rough time you go to sleep and wake up every day?

I pretty much always sleep after 2am and wake up at between 10 and 12am.

How many hours on average do you sleep a night?

Roughly 6 hours .

​Would you say you struggle with insomnia or sleep deprivation?

If so how long for?

Nothing serious, I just have a bad sleeping pattern from time to time.

What in your bedroom keeps you awake at night?

The lights and sounds from my alarm clocks annoy me sometimes, and the light that still comes through my windows after my curtains are closed bugs me too.

​Do you have any methods you use to try and assist your sleep at night?

I sometimes use breathing exercises to try and clear my mind, by focusing on my breathing I can sometimes clear my mind and eventually that helps me drift off.

Bianca Pacifico aged 20.

​What is the rough time you go to sleep and wake up every day?

I go to sleep about 1am and wake up about 10am most days.

How many hours on average do you sleep a night?

Somewhere between 7 ad 9 hours a night.

Would you say you struggle with insomnia or sleep deprivation?

If so how long for?

Yes,  for roughly the three years of being at university.

What in your bedroom keeps you awake at night?

My fairy lights can keep me up if I forget to turn them off, and there is too much light coming through blinds no matter what time of day it is.

Do you have any methods you use to try and assist your sleep at night?

Leaving my fairy lights on can sometimes help me sleep though other times they don't. Also watching videos on youtube or listening to music can also help me get to sleep.

Isy Battersby aged 21.

What is the rough time you go to sleep and wake up every day?

I go to sleep by around 3 or 3:30am most nights and then wake up at 11am or 12pm.

How many hours on average do you sleep a night?

Around 5 or 6 hours a night.

Would you say you struggle with insomnia or sleep deprivation?

If so how long for?

Yes,  and have for a few years since leaving school.

What in your bedroom keeps you awake at night?

My asthma and allergies cause a few issues with getting to sleep and my curtains are not that good so don't keep my room that dark.

Do you have any methods you use to try and assist your sleep at night?

Sometimes covering my curtains with a blanket to make the room darker,  I watch films or listen to music occasionally and sometimes antihistamines help my allergies which in result helps me sleep.

Rob Gray aged 22.

​What is the rough time you go to sleep and wake up every day?

It varies from night to night due to my inability to sleep. I try to go to sleep by 2am most nights but often ends up being around 4am. I then wake up about 12 or earlier.

How many hours on average do you sleep a night?

Around 5 hours at most.

Would you say you struggle with insomnia or sleep deprivation?

If so how long for?

Yes, and have for a round 5 years to different extents. I've had patches of being able to form a sleeping pattern, but most of the time do not sleep regularly.

What in your bedroom keeps you awake at night?

The sound of birds is often annoying on a night were I sleep really late, and the light through window becomes more annoying over time.The fire alarm also bugs me when I am unable to switch off.

​Do you have any methods you use to try and assist your sleep at night?

I have been prescribed sleeping medication, but background music, and trying  not to check my phone also helps me sleep sometimes.

Jordan Jones aged 21.

​What is the rough time you go to sleep and wake up every day?

Around 1 or 2am on average (unless I cannot sleep) and then can vary to between 8:30am and 11am for waking up.

How many hours on average do you sleep a night?

I’d say 6 to 7 hours a night.

Would you say you struggle with insomnia or sleep deprivation?

If so how long for?

Yes, and ever since the end of high school, though there have been periods in which I have slept normally.

What in your bedroom keeps you awake at night?

My phone, standby lights from Xbox controller charger, thin curtains that let in too much light and the green light on my fire alarm.

Do you have any methods you use to try and assist your sleep at night?

Covering window with bed sheet to make room darker, unplugging anything with a standby light and trying not to check my phone after getting into bed.

Each set of questions will be printed in my final piece alongside the black and white portrait of each participant. I thought this would be a good way of including some context in my work of the persons actual sleeping habits and adding to the concept of exploring people who struggle with actual sleeping problems.